Process of and apparatus for reducing stumps.



A. T. RATLIFF. PROCESS 0F AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING VSTUMPS.

Y APPucAoN man JUNE H. 1915. mgoo.

, Patented July 4, 1916.

'2 sHEETsfsm-:ET z.

" UNITED-r STATES rATENTorrioE. i

ALBERT 'C11V RATLIIEF, 0F HATTIESBUR-Gr, MISSISSIPPI,ASSIGNOR FREE STUMP REMOVEB MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF LAUREL, MISSISSIPPI, A COR/PCBA.-

-TION OF MISSISSIIPIEI.`

4 ritocnss or Jaan APPARATUS ron REDUGING s'rUMrs.

. Specicaton of Letters Patent.

Patented July 4, 1916.l

Application med' June 11, 1 915. se'ri'ai No; 33595.

To all whom it may. concern -Be it known zhat I, ALBERT 'Tl RATiirr,

a citizen of'theUnited States, residing at- Hattiesbiii'g,-in the county of Forrest and. State of Mississippi, have invented'certain new and useful Improvements in Processes of and Apparatus for Reducingl Stunips; and I do hereby declare the following tobe a full, clear, and exact description of the inventiom'such' as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to 1nake and u se the saine.

This invention relates to processes of an apparatusfor reducing stumps, and one ofthe principal objects of the invention is to provide a -retortQfor inclosing thestump, and an outer casing andan intermediate hood adapted to receive fuel. for heating the retort, and said retort beingl connected to an' outlet pipe leading ,to a still or worin, so

that the products and by-products from the stump may be obtained, and the stump may be" reduced to charcoaL Another object of the invention is to provide a process for obtaining charcoal, anoncondensible gas, light oils containing crude turpentine, tar and pyroligneous acid, all

of which may be separated into various coni-- mercial products byredistillation.

The foregoing and other objects may be attained by means ofthe construction illustrated in the accompanying drawings, a'nd the process to be'described .in relation thereto.

vIn the accompanyingdrawings: Figure 1 is a vertical sectional view of a portable apparatus for, carrying Aout theprocess referred to, said apparatus-being ofthe type `known as natural draft apparatus. Fig. 2 is a. view in partial vertical Section and partial eledesignatesthe outer casing of the apparatus which is adapted to reston the ground. and is provided with a draft opening 2 at the upperend thereofto admit air. A hoot, 3 is supported by mens of metal brackets 4c connected at one of their ends to the inner showing adapted to rest upon the ground and sur-A round and inclose a `pine stump a, is connected to vthe hood- 3 by metal bracketsor spacers 10; Supporting members 11 are connected to the lower -edge ofthe hood 3 at their upper ends and their lower ends are bolted to the flange 9 ofthe retortS. Lead- -ing. from the top of the retort' S is an outlet pipe 12 which leads -into a still casing 13, and connects with a coil or worin 1.1. .The casing 13 is mounted on a truck 15, and all `of the apparatus may be readily moved from place to place. T he condenser coil or worin 14: has an outlet 16 in the bottoni of the i casing- 13 and a receptacle 17 may be disposed innnediately.under -thfe outlet.

Aninlet pipe 1S for thecooling fluid or 'liquid and an out-let'pipe 19 are connected to the casing 13. The pipe 1Q mayv be provided with a removable coupling Q0 to permit the l`pipe :'12 to be rensved from the condenser when it is desired to move the apparatus from one stump to another.

Referring to Fig. Q of the. drawing. the apparatus 1s substantially the same as that4 shown'in Fig. 1, excepting'that there 'is a forced draft appliance vused comprising a fan blower v21 communicating b v in cans of the pipe with the upperl end of the outer casing 1.

'As shown in Fig. 3, the outer casing 23 is lprovided with an air inletpipe 24:, a smoke stack 25 and a damper 2o. The retort Q7 extends below the lower end of -the casing Q3, and supported.upontheretort b v suitable brackets QS is the hood 29. said `retort having a removable cap or comi- 30 connected thereto b v means of pi\'ote lbolts 31 adapted to engage recesses in the flange of. the cap oi top 30. It is to be understood that this casing may be provided with al door 3.6 through which to feed fuel. so thatthe heat on thc-exterior of the retort `n1a v bc Afaintained as long as it is nccessar \v to properl v reduge the stump.

lntake'pipes having vtheir lower endsv open, and provided with horizontal branches laraconnected to an elbow 34 to which the outlet, pipe 35 is attached, said pipe 35 leading to a condenser. p

The operation of the invention may be briefly described as follows:

' The retort 8 as shown in Figs. l and 2 or 27 as shown in Fig. 3 is placed over the stump a and a fire or any other suitable heating means is placed Within the outer casing at the base of'and around the retort. Air to support the combustion, as shown in Fig. 1, enters the casing at the inlet 2, and .is carried up around the retort inside the hood 3, thus raising the temperature to a high degree and reducing the stump a to charcoal, and carrying off the by-products through the pipe l2 to the condenser coil, and out into thel receptacle 17. The arrows in the various figures show the direction of the draft.

From the foregoing it will be obvious that the apparatus can be readily removed from one stump to another, and as shown in Fig.

3, the cap or cover 30 may be removed if ded sired for the purpose of permitting the introduction of roots, fat pine, or other. matter to be reduced.

Various changes may be made in the details of construction without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in the claims.

What is claimed is: l. An apparatus for reducing stumps and obtaining the by-products therefrom consisting of a retort, having a pipe leading to a condenser coil, a casing surrounding the retort, 'and a hood supported upon the retort,

means for admitting air tosupport com- Lieopoe bustion between the retort and the outer casing.

2. An apparatus of the character described comprising a casing, a retort Within the casing, a. hood connected to the retort, and draft appliances to support combustion between the outer casing and the retort, and an outlet pipe leading from the retort to a condenser coil.

3. An apparatus of the character 1described comprising a.V casing, a retort Within the casing, an outlet pipe leading from the top of the retort to a condenser coil, an outer casing, a hood between the retort and outer casing, and a forced draft device for supporting combustion between the outer casing and the retort.

l. An apparatus for reducing pine stumps y comprising an outer casing, a retort Within the outer casing, a hood disposed between the retortand outer casing, a smoke stack, an inlet opening for air, an outlet pipe for the retort, a condenser coil 'to which the outletpipe is connected, and means to force air into apparatus.

5. The herein described proce ofv de stroying a stump in the ground and gathering its by-products, consisting in placing a retort over the stump, applying heat to the exterior of the retort to reduce the stump, and'conveying the vapors generated in the retort to a condenser. v

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

ALBERT T. RATLIFF. Vitnesses l M. GALBRAITH, H. S. ARRINGTON. 

